OFWs can't fly without paying Syrian employers

MANILA, Philippines - Syrian employers are demanding that their Filipino workers pay for incomplete contracts if they want to return home, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Philippine government cannot immediately repatriate Filipino workers from strife-torn Syria because their employers are asking $2,500 to $3,000 before they can leave.

“Before issuing exit visas, the employers are asking for higher and higher amounts as payment for the unserved portion of the employment contract,” she said, noting that the Syrian immigration department requires departing foreign workers to present exit visas from their employers.

According to the United Nations, more than 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since almost daily protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime started on March 15. Human rights groups claim more than 10,000 people are behind bars.

The Syrian government maintains that the situation remains under control so foreign workers, including Filipinos, have no reason to leave.

Baldoz said the Philippine government is negotiating with Syrian employers to lower the fee they are demanding so Filipino workers could immediately return home.

“The Philippine government is ready to pay, but only based on computation on the unserved portion of their employment contract and not the $2,500 that the employers are demanding,” she said.

Baldoz said the Philippine government is also sending to Syria today additional personnel from the Rapid Response Team to augment the group already negotiating for the lowering of the exit visa fee.

The labor chief noted that about 500 Filipinos, mostly domestic helpers, have registered for repatriation from Syria. Of this number, only 17 have acquired the necessary exit visas from their employers.

“There are really Filipino workers who want to immediately leave Syria because of the prevailing hostilities, but until this time they could not get the exit visa,” Baldoz said.

She said the payment for exit visas will be taken from the government budget allocated for the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Assistance to Filipino Nationals program.      

Meanwhile, employers in Saudi Arabia continue to recruit Filipino workers despite a new government policy directing employers to prioritize hiring its own citizens.

A group of Saudi employers are arriving in Manila next week to fill more than a thousand vacancies in specialty and military hospitals before the end of the year, Lito Soriano, E-Recruitment Solutions chief operating officer, said yesterday.

Soriano said 12 hospitals in Saudi need experienced nurses in specialty and clinical wards with at least two years’ experience. They also need dental assistants, dental technicians, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, medical transcriptionists, medical secretaries and medical record clerks.